It is well known that couplers react with an oxidized aromatic primary amine color developing agent using light-exposed silver halide as an oxidizing agent to form dyes such as indophenol dyes, indoaniline dyes, indamine dyes, azomethine dyes, phenoxazine dyes, phenazine dyes, or analogous dyes, whereby color images are formed.
In these couplers, 5-pyrazolone series couplers, cyanoacetophenone series couplers, indazolone series couplers, pyrazolobenzimidazole series couplers, and pyrazolotriazole series couplers are used for forming magenta color images.
The couplers which have hitherto been most widely used as magenta color image-forming couplers (hereinafter also more briefly referred to as "magenta couplers") and have variously investigated are 5-pyrazolone series couplers. However, it is known that these exists an undesired absorption having a yellow component near 430 nm in dyes formed from 5-pyrazoline series couplers, which causes the formation of color stains.
As magenta color image-forming couplers reducing the yellow component of the dyes formed, pyrazolobenzimidazole couplers have been described, e.g., in British Patent 1,047,612, and pyrazolo[5,1-c]-1,2,4-triazole couplers have been described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,067.
However, the magenta couplers described in the aforesaid patents also have some undesirable properties. Particularly, when such couplers are mixed with a silver halide emulsion as a dispersion in a hydrophilic protective colloid such as gelatin, unsatisfactory color images are formed, the solubility of the couplers in high-boiling organic solvents is low, the couplers cannot be easily prepared, the couplers show relatively low coupling activity by use of usual developing solutions, and dyes formed from the couplers have very low light fastness.
Recently, imidazopyrazole couplers have been disclosed, e.g., in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 162548/84 (the term "OPI" as used herein means an "unexamined published application"), 1H-pyrazolo[1,5-b]-1,2,4-triazole couplers have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 171956/84, and pyrazolotetrazole couplers have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 33552/85, for solving the aforesaid problems. Also, the magenta couplers improving the coloring property by introducing a specific substituent to the pyrazole[5,1-c]-1,2,4-triazole are known, as described, e.g., in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 98438/85. Also, 1H-pyrazolo[3,2-c]-s-triazole type couplers have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 125743/84.
However, even when the couplers described above are used, they are not entirely satisfactory from the viewpoint of obtaining high color density, high coloring speed, and also high fastness of dye images formed. Furthermore, there is a remarkable different in attainable maximum density between the case of developing a reflective color photographic material containing the aforesaid magenta coupler with a color developing solution containing benzyl alcohol and the case of developing the color photographic material with a color developing solution that does not contain benzyl alcohol, and particularly, the problem that developing with a color developing solution containing no benzyl alcohol gives low coloring.